Summary Impact Type

Research Subject Area(s)

Download original

Summary of the impact

Sites of medieval carved stones attract thousands of visitors per year to
Scotland. Katherine Forsyth's research at Glasgow has led the
redevelopment of some of the most important collections of stones open to
the public, unlocking carvings never displayed before and transforming the
visitor experience of these ancient cultural icons. Her research
transformed Historic Scotland's current policy on the management of carved
stones, which applies to around 1,800 monuments and has redesigned the
visitor experience at Iona Abbey, which attracts 50,000 visitors per year.

Underpinning research

Katherine Forsyth has worked in early medieval inscriptions since the
mid-1990s and has published extensively on the history and culture of the
Celts and their surviving texts. In particular, she worked to create a new
record of all the early Christian stones in Munster, building an
impressive knowledge of early carvings and stonework. On the basis of this
expertise, in 2001 Historic Scotland invited Forsyth to undertake research
on some early medieval sculpture (5th-12th century)
in their care. This led to a total of three projects:

— work on a newly recognised ogham-inscribed cross-slab from Dyce,
Aberdeenshire (2001);

— the research potential of 3D laser scanning and replication of early
medieval sculpture with case studies from Dunadd, Argyll and Dupplin
Cross, Perthshire (2010-11, in collaboration with the Centre for Digital
Documentation and Visualization, Glasgow School of Art). Two further
projects were assisted by Dr Adrian Maldonado, post-doctoral fellow in
Archaeology, School of Humanities: an internationally significant
collection of c.120 pieces of sculpture on Iona (2012- 13) and a
nationally significant collection of c.12 carved stones from Kirkmadrine,
Galloway (2013).

Her research drew on the disciplines of epigraphy, archaeology, art
history and history, involving extensive recording and analysis of
monuments in the field, and built on previous published work by the
authors (Forsyth 2001, 2008, 2012). The research focussed on the form,
function, date and significance of stone sculpture of early medieval date,
situating it in its landscape context and giving due consideration to the
complete biography of individual monuments, including their subsequent
history of reuse and modification. This allowed a complete reassessment of
the sculpture and its significance which revealed it to be, in each case,
a far richer and more complex body of material than previously thought.

Forsyth's work promotes the significance of interpreting the totality of
the collection at each site, including fragments and apparently lesser
material, and emphasises the importance of the biographical approach to
the ongoing use and abuse of sculptured stones. Stone sculpture is a key
body of evidence for understanding the history and culture of Britain and
Ireland in this period, not least because in many cases it is the only
early medieval evidence to survive from a site. Carved stones provide
insight into, for instance: the nature of post-Roman society and culture
in Britain, the date and context of Christianisation, the nature and
spread of monasticism, organisation of craft production, development of
religious iconography especially the cult of the Cross, relationships
between secular and ecclesiastical power, ethnic and linguistic change,
cultural and artistic/intellectual relations between different regions of
Britain and between Britain and Ireland, and the monumentalisation of
burial.

Details of the impact

Historic Scotland is responsible for some of the most significant early
Christian monuments in the world, including the Latinus Stone at Whithorn,
perhaps the earliest post-Roman Christian monument in Britain, and the
world-famous collection of Iona, which includes the earliest High Crosses
in the world. These stone carvings hold some of the only testimony of the
people of this time that still exists, and a large part of our knowledge
of their history comes from interpreting their carvings. Moreover, sites
of carved stones attract thousands of visitors per year to sometimes
otherwise remote sites, boosting tourism to the areas. However, many of
the collections managed by Historic Scotland are inaccessible, hidden away
in storage or inadequately displayed, with their potential left untapped.
Forsyth has provided a modern and visitor-friendly vision for displaying
the monuments that is now used by Historic Scotland in its policy for
caring for these artefacts, notably in driving the refurbishment of some
of their most important visitor sites, including Iona Abbey, which
attracts 50,000 visitors per year.

Changes to Historic Scotland's policy on displaying carved stones

Conservation, maintenance and display of all carved stones in Scotland is
governed by Historic Scotland's `Carved
Stones: Scottish Executive Policy and Guidance', published in
2005. It draws heavily on Historic Scotland's approach — devised by
Forsyth — to the stones at Whithorn Priory. Guidance section 3.5.9-3.5.13
directly reflects Forsyth's research, noting the need for site-specific
interpretation plans and paying particular attention to the relevance of
fragments of stones, as well as to the importance of the full collection
in understanding and interpreting the site. The work done at Whithorn was
written up by Historic Scotland's Head of Cultural Heritage, who refers
explicitly to Forsyth's influence on the revisions to the display in his
paper `The Evolution of an Interpretative Approach', stating that `this
evolution [in the approach taken] has been significantly influenced by the
involvement of Dr Katherine Forsyth as consultant to the Historic Scotland
project team.'

Implementation of the new policy in specific sites

Historic Scotland used Forsyth's approach in the redevelopment of Iona
Museum in 2013 as well as St Vigeans Museum in 2009 and Whithorn Priory in
2005. Specific findings about individual monuments and about the
over-arching significance of each collection as a whole underpinned
Forsyth's interpretative plan for each site and formed the basis for the
redisplay strategy and design, including the ordering, grouping and
orientation of monuments, interpretative approach and themes, and content
for panels and labels, written guide-books and audio-guides and heritage
management databases.

Whithorn Priory redisplay

The sculptured stones at Whithorn Priory include the oldest Christian
monuments in Scotland, dating from the 5th to the 12th
centuries. Whithorn is known as the `cradle of Christianity' within
Scotland, a cultural, political and social centre in the early Christian
Era and for the next thousand years. The new displays create a more
accessible experience for visitors and locals, enhancing their
understanding of and connection with the people who carved the stones. As
one reviewer noted:

Early medieval sculpture is notoriously difficult to display with
complete success, as many museums can testify. For this reviewer the
sensitive handling of the material served to remind me of how significant
and regionally distinctive this assemblage of sculptures is. It is a more
successful approach for example than the similar lapidarium display at
Margam Abbey, South Wales (CADW) and hopefully bodes well for future
redisplays of Historic Scotland collections in Meigle, St Vigeans and
Iona. (`Exhibition Review: Whithorn's Medieval Material Culture on
Display', Scottish Archaeological Journal, 2005.)

Forsyth drafted the text for the information boards within the museum
following her work piecing together the damaged stones and reinterpreting
them and provided the new layout plan, as well as advising on locating and
lighting the stones. Between 2008 and 2012 more than 40,000 people had the
opportunity to view the new displays while visiting the Whithorn Priory
Museum. The revised display was runner-up in the Museum and Heritage
Awards for Excellence in 2008, beating entries from much more prominent
visitor sites throughout the UK.

Iona Abbey and Museum new display

Iona is one of the most popular tourist sites in Scotland, and has a
collection of stones which are unparalleled in Europe. The Museum reopened
in May 2013. Iona regularly receives 150,000 visitors per year, and the
Abbey is one of the key attractions. The museum's reinterpretation of the
history of Iona now reflects Forsyth's work on identifying the most
significant stones and most notably, her discovery that the layout of the
original stones was intended to mirror that of holy sites, including
Calvary and Christ's burial place in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
The Head of Cultural Heritage for Historic Scotland says: `it has changed
the way we look at Iona. Its layout is far more significant than we
thought... the four key components of Christ's sacrifice on the cross are
here, because the monks wanted to contemplate the Passion of Christ in
their workshop.' Forsyth also assisted in piecing together and
reconstructing the major crosses, which are now on display. Historic
Scotland notes that her report:

was groundbreaking and innovative, rich in evidence-based interpretation,
which was precisely what we required to provide the firm foundation for
the now completed redisplay of the site museum. That work was completed in
summer 2012, but since then Kate has continued to play a key role as an
adviser to the project on an ad-hoc basis. Her work has had a direct and
positive impact on most aspects of the project `hardware', including the
new interpretation panels, audio guide, as well as the site museum. The
museum has attracted plaudits from our visitors, and will successfully
allow people to engage with the evidence of the distant past and thereby
take away a far better understanding.

Figure 1. Iona Abbey and Museum display

Sources to corroborate the impact

Evidencing influence on display policy

1. Yeoman, Peter, `Proposals for the re-display of the early medieval
sculpture collection at Whithorn: The evolution of an interpretative
approach', in Able Minds and Practised Hands: Scotland's early
medieval sculpture in the 21st century, eds
Sally Foster and Morag Cross, Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph
series, Oxford, Oxbow, 113-34, 2005. ISBN
978-1-904350-74-3. [available from HEI]

3. Katherine Forsyth (2011) A preliminary investigation into
the scholarly potential of 3D digital documentation of Early Medieval
sculpture, June 2011 (commissioned by the Centre for Digital
Documentation and Visualization and Historic Scotland) [available from
HEI]

6. Katherine Forsyth and Adrian Maldonado (2013) Report on Early
Medieval carved stones from Kirkmadrine, Galloway in the care of
Historic Scotland, March 2013 (commissioned by Historic Scotland)
[available from HEI]

7. Katherine Forsyth and Adrian Maldonado (2012) Report on Early
Medieval carved stones from Iona in the care of Historic Scotland,
March 2012 (commissioned by Historic Scotland) [available from HEI]

8. Katherine Forsyth (2003) Report on Early Medieval carved stones
from Whithorn and vicinity in the care of Historic Scotland,
September 2003 (commissioned by Historic Scotland) [available from HEI]